Method of making propeller blades



G. TL LAMPTON METHOD OF MAKING PROPELLER BLADE ed April 23, 1943 Dec. 4, 1951 Dec. 4, 1951 T. LAMPTON 5 3 METHOD OF MAKING PROPELLER BLADES 3 sheet-s-sheef 3 Deco 1951 G. T. LAMPTON V METHOD OF MAKING PROPELLER BLADES Original Filed April 23, 1943 W am ar r d 2 h\ Z .Q a 3 a .N a (1 u Mak Patented Dec. 4, 1951 METHOD OF PROPELLER BLADES Glen T. Lampton, West Hartford, Conn., assignor to United Aircraft Corporation, East Ha-tford, Conn., a corporation of Delaware Original application April 23, 1943, Serial No. 484,254, now Patent'No. 2,511,858, dated June 20, 1950. Divided and this application June 28, 1947, Serial No. '757,845

e An objection of the invention is to provide an improved method of performing an outer or airfoil member for an airplane propeller blade.

With the above and' other objects and advan tages in view the invention includes the steps in.

the process of manufacturing a hollow all-metal aeronautical propeller blade set forth in the fole lowing specification and illustrated in the ac companying drawings which illustrate what is now considered to be the preferred process 'of carrying out the invention.

- In the accompanying drawings, annexed hereto and forming a part of this specification, I have shown -the various steps in the preferred process of making a particular form of hollow all-metal' propeller blade, but it will be understood that the invention can be otherwise carried out and: the drawings are not to be construed as defin-.

ing or limiting the scope of the process; the

claims appended to this specification being relied upon for that. purpose.

In the drawings:

'Fig 1 is -a perspective view of an intermediate,

portion of the. outer or airfoil member of the bla-de partially t formed and; prior to being centrally folded, the surfaces shown in the figure forming' the outside surfaces of this outer or airfoil member. e

tFig. 2 is an end View of the outer member shown in Fig. l in position for being centrally and longitudinally folded, the member being shown inrer lation to the platen and ram of a suitable press. Fg. 3 is a transverse sectional view of the outer member in position within the forming dies for its preliminary forming operation after being centrally and longitudinally folded.

Fi g. 4 is a fragmentary longitudinal view show-. ing the shank end of the tubular and outer members in relativeposition for the final and perma-.

nent' uniting operation.

jag. 5 is a sectional view taken on an oblique transverse plane through line i l- 14. of FigaA and showing the joints between the airfoil and tubular members, and thewelded or other seam along the trailing edge of the outer member prior tothe final edge trimming operation.

F 'ig 6 is a transversesectional view f the- 5 Claims. .(01. 29 1563) sembled blade member shown in Fig. 5 within the complete forming die, and

7. is a longitudinal View of the completed blade made in accordance with the present invention. r

Fig. 8 is a view looking down on a folded sheet as'folded by the platen and ram of Fig. 2.-

Fig. 9 is a side View of the deformed sheet, a portion of which is shown in Fig. 1, after the preliminary forming and before the folding and with the flanged edge portions removed for clarity.

In the above-mentioned drawings there has been shown but one complete blade made according to the present process of forming a form .of

hollow all-metal propeller blade which is now deemed preferable. It is to be understood,.however, that changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the appended claims.: departing from the spirit :oi the.

without invention.,

-Briefly, and in its preferred aspect, the process' comprising the present invention may include, the

following principal steps: conforming the outer member substantially to aerodynamic form; and finishing the blade to predetermined Outline and airfoil sections. I l

The process of forming the outer or-shell member l5 will now be described. e A

The shell member l=5 comprjses initially a thin flat sheet of metal first preliminarily formed between suitable conforming dies (not shown) to form the opposite sides or faces of the airfoil section i opened out, approximately 180. r partly formed member !5, a portion of which is shown in Fig. 1, may then have its Outline cut to a predetermined contour by any appropriate cutting means (not shown). The sheet thus partially formed and with its edges shaped to a predetermined periphery is then folded centrally and longitudinally upon itself to superimpose the presc'ommodate the deformation of the sheet! 5 form-. ing the face and camber sides respectively adjacent the shank end of theblade in the finished blade. surfaces 26 andl28 are shaped to accomodate thedeformat'on of the sheet !5 forming the This The

Thus as shown face and camber sides respectively adjacent the tip portion of the finished blade. From Fig. 2 it is apparent that the fold line forming the leading edge portion of the finished blade is a substantially'straight line and that the plunger !8 incorporates'a twist or pitch distribution between the shank portion and the tip portion to accommodate the deformation made in sheet l5 to provide such twist, thus providing in the initial steps of forming the twist which is to appear in the' finished blade. The fold thus formed extendscentrally of the sheet alongthe edge of theshank and intermediate portions of the blade and in the finished blade forms a portion of the leading edge of the blade. A propeller' blade to be efcient must have a twist, i. e., the blade chord at the tip must have a smaller angle to the propeller disc than the chord at the shank end of the blade. This is s because while all parts'of the blade are advancing bodily forward in the direction of travel of the airplane at the same speed, the portion of the blade near the'` tip 'travelsa much further distance in a circular path than the portion near' the shanit. This twist of the blade is shown in the forming die !8 in Fig. 2. I`n order to impart this twist, or as it is called this pitch distribution, to a shell made of 'a thin' fiat sheet, it is necessary to first deform'the sheet by forming depressions corresponding to the finished camber and face sides incorporating' this pitch distribution and then bend or fold the sheet to-- bring the two sides into juxtaposition. All attempts to impart all of this twist to the shell after it' has been folded resulted in a wrinkled surface from which it was not possible' to remove the wrinkles. This may be due to thefactthatas shown the finished blade has fiat orconvex exterior surfaces and is much wid'er than it is thick giving a relatively' long and 'narrow cross section as shown in Figs. 3-7. Any twist imparted to this hollow thin flat tube will naturally result in wrinkles. However, if the flat sheet `is* deformedto provide the camber and face shapes' including the blade twist in the fiat sheet, it may` then be folded to form the leading edge at the fold and the folded sheet will have the. twist as well as the camber and face shapes incorporated therein without the formation of wrinkles. The plunger !3 and pad l'l fold the sheet I5 as `far as possible and still leave room to withdraw the plun'ger. After the plunger is withdrawn the` folded' sheet appears as in Fig. 8. In preparing toweld the peripheral edges of the folded sheet, the free edges of the folded sheet are then brought together in any desired mann'er usually by manualvinanipulation. The entire periphery' of the blade except along this folded portionafter this bending operation has its edges welded or otherwise integrally united electrically just beyond the finished edges of the blade as indicated' at 2 i in F-ig. 5. i

With the outer member l5 thus preliminarily formed and folded, and with its peripheral edges welded by the seam weld 2! as above described there isformed an enclosure, pressure tight except at' itsopen shank end. Within this open end of the outer member i5. a bulkhead !9 may be temporarily inserted and Secured in pressure tight i relation therein, there being a, suitable opening' therein for the. attachment of pressure. applying means; The outer member !5 at this 'step `in the .process is only roughly for-med in outline and .the seam welding 2l at .its periphery isso made;

4 so formed and with the edges along its opposite sides seam welded together the member I5 is inserted within the space between the halves of the dies l4 shown in Fig. 3. By means of this die the'member !5 conformed'substantially to its finalairfoil form During this conforming operation within the dies [4, spacing means 9 are inserted along one of the longitudinal edges of the die. !4 at which the front or leading edge of the blade is disposed. This spacing means 9 may comprisea metal strip having twice the thickne'ss of the material of which the member !5 is On the opposite edge, the lateral extensions of the folded and shaped sheet 1-5 beyond thefinal outlines ofgthe blade, form the means to properly space the dies. Closing of the die halves positioned .that it will be outside the final outline.,

or; eontour. of, the;b1ade. With :thismember l 5.

As this process is well known, a detailed description is not thought to be necessary. It will suffce to state that copper within the member' l5 heated in a reducing atmosphere to a temperature above its melting point is allowed to flow between the'wails of the outer member just within the seam weld 2! so that upon cooling a-solid copper v joint or weld will be formed inside this member lthroughoutits periphery. This joint orsw'eld takes' the form of a fillet :adjacent and within the `periphery of the' blade where the edges are' united.

With the outer member !5 so formd by 'dies 'M the: tenporary bulkhead s at the shank end is removed and the tubular or inner member'lflinserted within this' open' end of the outer mem ber. To center this inner member n relative to the outer member IS so that the tubular member lo may extend exactly centrally or axially therethrough, the shank end of the'outer member 15' may have another bulkhead s inserted therein': closely fitting around the shank end of`the tub'ular member o.

-To permanently unite the tubular member ID to the' outer member I 5 while retained in central position therein' as described above, 'the assen'- bled members preferablyaredipped into a tank of melted solder or other 'material having a lower' melting point than the copper or other brazing material used in permanently uniting the'peripheral edges' of the outer member !5. Small openings may be provided in the outer member ad-` ja'cent the blade tip by means of which the meltedsolder may enter the 'space between the tubular and' outer members'.

gether. member !5 may be compressed resiliently against the surface of the t'ubular member, and, if desired pressure may be admitted within the' tubular* member lfl.

`With the two members le and !5 permanently united as above described the outer member IS- may be confo'rmed to any predetermined airfoil'- 76. shape. Theperipherywof thisouter member This material, after filling; may be drained slowly from this interier leaving the solder to form a firm 'joint between the conutaoting surfaces ofthese members IO and 15 and 'serving to retain these members permanently to'- During this operation the surfaces of E may be trimmed in a manner to cut away all of the seam welding.

It is to be understood that the invention is .not limited to the specific steps in the process herein illustrated and described, but may be carried out in other ways without departure from its spirit as defined by the following claims.

I claim:

1, The method of forming an airfoil shaped shell for a hollow propeller blade varying in shape throughout its length and incorporating a twist between its, shank and tip ends and having a substantially straight leading edge which comprises, deforming a substantially flat sheet to produce depressions therein having substantially the shape of the face and camber sides of the finished shell including said twist, folding said shell on a substantially straight line between said depressions bringing the edge portions of said folded sheet into contact, and welding said edge portions along a line adjacent to the desired final Outline of said blade.

2. The method of forming a propeller blade having an airfoil cross section with face and camber sides and having a twist lengthwise of the blade and having a substantially straight leading edge which comprises, deforming a substantially flat sheet to produce depressions therein having substantially the shape of the face and camber sides of the finished blade including said twist, folding said sheet along a substantially straight line between said depressions, bringing the edge portions and one end of said sheet into contact, and welding said edge portions and end I portion along a line adjacent to the desired final i Outline of said blade to form an airtight shell, finish shaping said folded sheet to the desired airfoil shape and twist between dies while maintaining the interior of said shell under pressure.

3. The method of forming a propeller blade having an airfoil cross section with face and camber sides and having a twist lengthwise of the blade which comprises, deforming a substantially fiat sheet to produce depressions therein having substantially the shape of the face and camber sides of the finished blade including said twist, folditg said sheet along a line between said depressions, bringing the edge portions and one end of said sheet into contact and welding said edge portions and end portion along a line adjacent to but outside of the desired final Outline of said blade to form an airtight shell, finish shaping said folded sheet to the desired airfoil shape and twist between dies while maintaining the interior of said shell under pressure, further uniting said folded sheet at the weld by flowing melted metal from the inside of said shell toward said welded line, and completing the shaping of tially central longitudinal line, seam welding one side and one end of said folded sheet along a line adjacent to but outside of the desired final Outline of said blade to join the opposite sides of said folded sheet and form a substantially airtight envelope, shaping said envelope to substantially airfoil shape in a die while maintaining pressure within said envelope flowing metalalong the line of said weld on the inside of said shell to further join the opposite sides of said folded sheet, and trimming away said welded portion to bring said envelope to the final blade form.

5. In the process of making a hollow aeronautical propeller blade having an airfoil cross section with face and camber sides and having a twist lengthwise of the blade and a substantially straight leading edge the steps of, forming depressions in a sheet of metal of uniform thickness to provide portions preformed into portions of the camber and flat sides of a blade including said twist, folding said sheet along a line between said preformed portions to form the blade leading edge and bring peripheral edges of said sheet together, welding together the peripheral edges of said folded sheet, elevating the temperature of said folded sheet, and then completing the shaping of said folded and welded member at elevated temperature to airfoil shape between dies and to a predetermined Outline with the preformed portions including said twist located in the camr ber and flat sides of the blade.

GLEN T. LAMPTON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 412,278 Lee Oct. 8, 1889 1,346,508 Olhovsky July 13, 1920 1,805,283 Hammerstrom May 12, 1931 1,817,556 Hamilton Aug. 4, 1931 1,927,247 Squires Sept. 19, 1933 2,050,142 White Aug. 4, 1936 2,108,209 Reilly Feb. 15, 1938 '2,280,337 McKee Apr. 21, 1942 2,293,768 Schaefer Aug. 25, 1942 2,341,784 John Feb. 15, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 770.908 France Sept. 24, 1934 

